


The Top Shelf

by Livingonaprayerstiel



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, but then it wasn't, it was supposed to be happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-18 20:04:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2360573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livingonaprayerstiel/pseuds/Livingonaprayerstiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Writing to fill the prompt "Preserum!Steve and Bucky at the grocery store and Steve can't reach the top shelf"</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Top Shelf

**Author's Note:**

> Writing for a friend's birthday

"Holy shit, Steve! What are you doing?" Bucky yelled as he rushed forward. He'd only left Steve alone for two seconds. How in the hell had he managed to climb up the shelves so fast? Tiny, five foot nothing, Steve was hanging from the top shelf in the baking goods aisle. Bucky grabbed Steve around the middle and pulled him down. When he let go, Steve turned to face him, red as a beet and scowling fiercely.  
"What did you do that for?" Steve asked, "I was fine."  
Bucky folded his arms, like a cross parent, "You could have fallen. If you can't reach, just ask me to help. You know I will."  
"Buck," Steve sighed, grabbing the cart and moving along, "I can do things by myself. M'not completely helpless."  
Frowning, Bucky blocked the cart's progress. He even put a hand on it to make sure Steve couldn't maneuver out of the way, "Steve, look at me." When he wouldn't, Bucky walked over to him, placed a hand on his chin and angles it up. Steve's eyes were sparkling blue and shining with unshed tears, "This isn't about the shelves, is it?"  
Slowly, Steve nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. Bucky took it from him and flattened it out. It was an enlistment form and, in the corner, there was a great dark "4F" stamp.  
"When did you-?" Bucky asked.  
"This morning," Steve mumbled, "I was there and back before you woke up. M'nothing, Buck. Useless. Helpless. I wanna go out and help us win, but... They took one look at me and laughed."  
Without hesitating, Bucky gathered Steve's thin frame into his arms, resting his chin on Steve's feathery blonde hair, "Stevie," he whispered, "I'm sorry they laughed. You're not useless."  
"Yeah, sorry they laughed, but not sorry they turned me down," Steve mumbled bitterly.  
Bucky held Steve back at arm's length, looking at him sternly, "Not for the reasons you're thinking. You're the strongest person I know. They just can't see it. And, fuck, if I ain't a selfish person. Yeah, I'm glad they didn't take ya. But only because, if they did, who would help me reach the top shelf?" He grabbed Steve around the middle again and lifted hi, high enough to grab a pack of flour from the shelf.  
When Steve was back on his own two feet, he smiled, "Thanks Buck. Let's go home."  
Ruffin Steve's hair, Bucky chuckled, "You're such a punk."  
"And you're a jerk."  
Steve kept trying to enlist and kept getting turned down. But then, a few days later, Bucky's number was called and he shipped out to basic, leaving Steve all alone. Surprisingly, Steve managed not to cry. He could get by on his own. It was a little tough without Bucky, but he would live. It didn't hit him until a month had passed and Steve had to go to the grocery store. As he stood facing the shelves, all of the tears he had stored inside spilled out and he slumped to the floor, not caring who saw.  
"Dammit Buck," Steve whimpered, face in his hands, "Who's gonna help me reach the top shelf?"


End file.
